Overhead electric contact.



T. W. SMALL. OVERHEAD ELEGTRIG GONTAGT.

Arrmonmn TILE JUNE se, 190s.A

937,107. Patented oct.19,19o'9.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT o FTQE,

THOMAS W. SMALL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE ACME AUTOMATICSTREET INDICATING- COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

OVERHEAD nnncr'nrc CONTACT.

Specication'of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct.l 19, 1909.

Application filed June26, 19 08. Serial No. 440,473.

To all whom t mag/concern: l

l 3e it known that I, THOMAS W. SMALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a vcertain new and useful Improvement in Overhead Elec-v tricContacts, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide a very simple and eiiicientoverhead contact station for trolley roads where it is desired toestablish an electric circuit at predetermined intervals along the rightof way.

My contact device is supported by the supportingwires for the trolleywire and is located at intervals according to the stops to be made, andmay operate to close a circuit, operating, for example, a suitablestreet indicator on the car. This circuit closing station may be usedfor other purposes, if desired. It is adapted, in the form shown, to beconnected with thetrolley circuit and. to coperate with-a metallicsleeve on the trolley pole which forms one'terminal of a suitablecircuit. e p

The drawings clearly illustrate my invention, wherein--` l y Figure l isan elevation, partly sectional, of the contact station; Fig. 2 is avertical central section thereof showing the position the trolley poleoccupies in passing through the station; Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofone of the insulators for holding the station rigidly to the guy wire;Fig. 4 is an elevation of the inner end of one ofthe blocks whichcarries the contact brushes; Fig. 5 is a cross' section through thetrolley. pole, showing myv metallic contact sleeve thereon.

As shown in the drawings, 10 represents the guy wire which is adapted tosupport the trolley wire 11 by means of the usual insulatedconstruction. Thisconstruction as shown, includes the supporting member12 to which the trolley wire is soldered, the stud 13 screwing into suchmember,;the upper insulator 14 which carries such stud, and the lowerinsulator 15 which surrounds the stud and interlocks with theupperinsul'ator, and finally the supporting yoke lwhich occupies thegroove between the two insulator sections, and has arms 17 whichoverhang the guy wire. This is a usual vform of con-s struction andneed'not befurther described.

The frame ofmy; contact station consists'` 4-ofa' fiat U-shapedplate,20. This plate is primarily held; by beingmounted between thelower end of the lower insulator 15 and the upper 'end of the trolleywire support 12. The plate is provided. with an opening through whichthe stud 13 extends and is clamped between the support and insulator.The plate bears directly on the wire support and is thus in electricconnection with the trolley wire. A

The plate 20 is prevented from turning around on the stud 13 as an axisby reason of one or more clamps, holding the plate to the guy wire. Twoof these clamps are shown, each consisting of a pair of insulatingblocks 21 and 22 surrounding the guy wire and held thereto by a suitablewire 23, the intermediate portion of which lies beneath lthe plate 20and which passes in a loop upwardly through openings in that plate andthrough l two openings in the blocks 21 and 22, the upper ends of thewire .being twisted together.V .1 It will be seenlfrom thisvconstruct-ion that the .plate20isfrigidly held inposition'. extendingtransversely of the trolley wire and depending on opposite sides thereof, that'it: isinsula'ted from the guy wire, and is in direct electricconnection with the trolley wire.` f x f Secured to each of .thedepending portions of the plate`20on' the inner side thereof is thewooden block 30, each of which carries inwardly projecting wires orstrips 31. These inwardly projecting metallic bristles, so to speak, arepreferably flat narrow strips and are bent into U-shape, and several ofthem nest within each other, as shown'in Fig. 1. Extending crosswise ofthe innermost strips in each nest of metallic bristles is the tie wire32. This wire lies on the outer face of the block 30 and is inelectrical engagement with each of the various set-s of strips, as shownin Fig. 4. This block is tionwiththe plate 20 and thus withl the trolleywire, it resultsv itiaiiythinglmetallic passes between the two sets ofmetallic bristles, contacting with any of them, the same j iselectrically connected with the trolley wire.

The street indicator, or whatever deviceis employed onV the trolley car,may have one terminal connected with the ground -and t-he` flange 44which enables bolts to clamp it in place. This sleeve 43 is sopositioned with reference to the trolley wheel 45 that whenever suchwheel passes along the wire, at one o my stations, the sleeve 43 willengage and make electrical contact with the bristles 81, while the wheelwill ride through my station above the bristles and out of contacttherewith. The metallic sleeve is long enough and the parts are sopositioned that this result will take eiiect irrespective of the angleat which the pole may be standing.

Practice has demonstrated that my station is very etlicient inestablishing a shunt from the trolley wire to mechanism on the carwhenever one of the stations is reached, irrespective of sagging ofwires, weather conditions, speed of operation, or any of the otherextraneous factors which tend to intertere with the production ofsatisfactory overhead contacts. VI-Iaving thus described my invention, Iclaim: Y

1. In an overhead contact, the combination of aY frame adapted to dependon opposite sides of the trolley wire, contact members carried by bothportions of the depending frame projecting toward each other, saidcontact members consisting ot narrow fiat strips arranged in sets.

2. YIn an overhead contact, the combination ofa frame adapted to dependon opposite sides of the trolley wire, contact menibers carried by bothportions of the depending frame projecting toward each other, saidcontact members consisting of narrow fiat strips arranged in sets, themembers of each set nesting within each other, and suitable retainingmeans `for such nested sets.

3. In an overhead contact, the combination of a suitable U-shaped plate,wooden blockssecured to the inner sides of both depending members ot'the plate, and metallic bristles carried by the wooden blocks.

4. In an overhead contact, the combination of a U-shaped plate adaptedto be in electric connection with the trolley wire and clamped by thewire insulator, metallic contact members cai'ried by the inner sides oitsaid plate near its lower ends and projecting inwardly.

In an overhead contact, the combination et' a U-shaped plate adapted tobe in electric connection with the trolley wire and supported by thewire insulator, metallic cont-act strips, wooden blocks in which .saidstrips are secured, and means for holding vsaid blocks to the innersides et' said plate near its lower ends with the strips projectinginwardly and in electrical connection with the plate.

6. The combination of a. trolley wire, means for supporting the saine, atrame clamped between thc trolley wire support and trolley wire anddepending on opposite sides et' the trolley wire, inwardly projectingmetallic members carried by said frame, and a metallic sleeve on thetrolley pole adapted to engage such metallic menibers, while the trolleywheel is on the trolley wire.

7. The combination of a trolley wire, means for supporting the saine, asuitably supported metallic member, and a metallic sleeve on the trolleypole adapted to engage such metallic member, while the trolley wheel ison the trolley wire and irrespective of the angle the trolley pole maybe occupying, said sleeve being longitudinally split and havingprojecting portions adjacent to the split, and securing means engagingsuch projecting portions whereby the sleeve may be removed.

S. In an overhead electric contact, the combination with a U-shapedplate, and a series of metallic bristles nested in sets and in electricVcontact with each et the depending arms of the plate.

9. In an overhead electric contact, the combination of a U-shaped plateclamped by the trolley hange.1 and having depending arms on oppositesides of the trolley wire, and two sets ot metallic bristles adapted tobe secured to the inner sides of said depending arms, and projectingtoward each other into the path et the trolley pole.

10. In an electric contact, the combination of a supporting plate andablock carrying nested sets of metallic bristles in electric contact withsaid plate.

11. The combination of a U-sliaped metal plate, a wooden block securedto the inner face of each oit the depending arms of the plate, and ayseries et metallic bristles carried by each block.

12. The combination of a metal frame, a. wooden block secured to theinner face of such frame, and a series of metallic bristles carried bysuch block, said bristles consisting of U-sliaped strips nesting withinone another in several sets.

V'13. The combination of a fra-me, an insulating block held thereto,several'sets of strips nesting within one another and seated in saidblock, and a wire engaging seyeral of such sets and serving to hold thebristles in' the block, and also insure good electricconnection with theframe.

let. The combination of a U-shaped metal plate, a wooden block securedto the inner face of each of the depending arms of the plate, a seriesof metallic bristles carried by each block, said bristles consisting ofU- shaped strips nesting within one another, in several sets, and a wireengaging several of such sets and serving to hold the bristles in theblock, and also insure good electric con neetion with the plate.

l5. The combination of a depending frame adapted to be clampedbetweenthe insulator and supporting bar of a trolley hanger, and

an insulator carried by such frame and adapted to embrace the guy Wireand thereby prevent displacement of the frame.

16. The combination with atrolley hanger including a wire support andinsulator, of a U-shaped flat plate adapted to extend intermediatelybetween the support and in sulator and be clamped thereby, and aninsulator mounted on ,the upper side of the intermediate portion of suchplate and adapted to embrace the guy wire which supports the trolleyhanger.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

T. W. SMALL.

Witnesses ALBERT H. BA'rEs, BRENNAN B. Wns'r.

